Raider Nation hitting London next season

The NFL announced today that the Raiders will play in 2014 in the United Kingdom. The date of the game and the opponent will be announced later this season.

Next year’s regular-season game will take place at the historic Wembley Stadium in London. It’s one of three regular season games that the NFL will stage in London next year.

“Our fans in the UK have continued to demonstrate that they love football and want more,” commissioner Roger Goodell said. “Both of this year’s games in London sold out quickly. The fan enthusiasm for our sport continues to grow. By playing two games in the UK this year, we are creating more fans. We hope that with three games in London next year we will attract even more people to our game.”

Two players in the team’s current roster, defensive lineman Jack Crawford and offensive lineman Menelik Watson, have roots in the United Kingdom. Crawford was born in London and grew up there before moving to the United States while in high school. Watson hails from Manchester, England, and moved to the United States to play college basketball. Also, Raiders Senior Offensive Assistant Al Saunders was born in London before his family moved to Northern California when he was a child.

It’s the same site where the Raiders faced the New Orleans Saints on August 5, 1990, in a preseason American Bowl contest. New Wembley opened in 2007.

The Raiders are now making their fifth international appearance, having spanned four countries. The Raiders faced the Miami Dolphins in an American Bowl preseason match-up in Japan August 4, 1991, in the Tokyo Dome, affectionately known as “The Big Egg.”

The Raiders played in yet another historic facility July 31, 1994, when they took on the Denver Broncos in Barcelona, Spain, at Montjuic Stadium -site of opening and closing ceremonies for the 1992 Summer Olympics.

The Silver and Black’s last trip out of the United States was to Mexico City, when they played the Dallas Cowboys August 27, 2001, in yet another historic venue—the 100,000-seat Azteca Stadium.

The International Series of regular-season games has increased NFL fan interest in the UK, with a current fan base of more than 12 million, including 2.5 million avid fans, a 30 percent increase in avid fans in the past two years.